What Does it Feel Like? by Sophie Kinsella

 

Summary (from the publisher): From #1 bestselling author Sophie Kinsella, an unforgettable story—by turns heartbreaking and life-affirming—of a renowned novelist facing a devastating diagnosis and learning to live and love anew.

“The bravest book you’ll read all year.”—Jodi Picoult

“What Does It Feel Like? is fiction, but it is my most autobiographical work to date. Eve’s story is my story.”—Sophie Kinsella

Eve is a successful novelist who wakes up one day in a hospital bed with no memory of how she got there. Her husband, never far from her side, explains that she has had an operation to remove the large, malignant tumor growing in her brain.

As Eve learns to walk, talk, and write again—and as she wrestles with her diagnosis, and how and when to explain it to her beloved children—she begins to recall what’s most important to her: long walks with her husband’s hand clasped firmly around her own, family game nights, and always buying that dress when she sees it.

Recounted in brief anecdotes, each one is an attempt to answer the type of impossible questions recognizable to anyone navigating the labyrinth of grief. This short, extraordinary novel is a celebration of life, shot through with warmth and humor—it will both break your heart and put it back together again.

“Why did I write such a personal book? I have always processed my life through writing. Hiding behind my fictional characters, I have always turned my own life into a narrative. It is my version of therapy, maybe. Writing is my happy place, and writing this book, although tough going at times, was immensely satisfying and therapeutic for me.”—Sophie Kinsella

Review: Eve is a successful novelist who is happily married and has five children. One day, she wakes up in a hospital bed with no memory of what has happened. Her husband explains that she has had surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from her brain. She must learn to walk, talk, and write again and struggles with her short-term memory. 

Despite being a novella that was only two hours long on audio, this was such a beautiful listen! I had so much empathy for the main character Eve. Kinsella really does a wonderful job of conveying how confusing and disorienting it was for Eve to have such gaps in her memory and understanding after her surgery. And how scary it must have felt to contemplate if her memory never improved and how it felt facing death from cancer. While of course this is brief so some things aren't fully fleshed out, it still gives a full sense of Eve as a character enveloped in the love of her family even while struggling through this ordeal. 

It was so deeply moving to learn that this is a highly autobiographical novel based on Sophie Kinsella's real life and her own experience as a writer and mom of five going through brain cancer. She says in the afterward that writing this in novel format helped her process and come to terms with her experience. I have actually never read any of Sophie Kinsella's other novels but this beautiful and moving piece, albeit different than her usual novels, made me curious to explore her writing more. 

Stars: 4